Specifically the present invention relates to in situ measurements of bioluminescence intensity in the ocean and other bodies of water. Bioluminescence is one measure of the number and type of organisms in water, which is helpful in understanding population dynamics and certain sound transmission characteristics of water.
Bioluminescence in aquatic environments comes from a wide variety of sources. Tett and Kelly (Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Ann. Rev, 1973, p 89–173) gives a detailed review of the physics of the measurements, and a phyletic review. Many different species, belonging to most of the phyla exhibit bioluminescence, including Bacteria, Dinoflagellates, Radiolaria, Hydrozoa, Siphonophora, Scyphozoa, Anthozoa, Ctenophora, Polychaeta, Lamellibrachiata, Cephalopoda, Crustacea, Urochordata and Actinopterygii. Studies indicate that these organisms use bioluminescence for a great variety of vital functions. It is an important mechanism for understanding physiological processes. Work has shown that certain species can be identified on the basis of their bioluminescence. Clearly it is one of the commonest radiative processes of organisms as well as one of the most complex. As such, a considerable body of research has accumulated; in fact there is a Journal of Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence.
Beginning in the 1940's, instrumentation for quantitative measurements of bioluminescence was developed in several countries. Yentsch and Yentsch (Oceanogr. Maar. Biol. Ann. Rev, 1984, p 55–98), and Gitelson and Levin (Jour Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence, 1989, p 555–562) describe some of the technology. A more recent paper by Case et al, (Naval Research Reviews, Two 1993, p 31–41) gives a good overview and bibliography. Also, there are several U.S. patents describing techniques and instrumentation for observing bioluminescence. See for example:                U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,331 to Losee and Lapota, “System for measuring bioluminescence flash kinetics”        U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,305 to Stiffey, Blank and Loeb, “Solid-state photometer circuit”        U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,854 to Lapota, Mastny, Copeland, “Bioluminescent detector”        U.S. Pat. No. 5,264,906 to Fever, Case, Widder, Bernstein, Lowenstine, “Biolumescence bathyphotometer”        U.S. Pat. No. 5,554,035 to Gooch, “Bioluminescent algae in light bulb shaped viewing device”        U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,360 to Lapota, Mastny, Copeland, Rosenberger, “Biolumescent bioassay system”        
The foregoing instrumentation literature and patents describe tailored systems for fairly specific applications, such as laboratory apparatus to study isolated organisms, or determination of organism response to certain physical or chemical stimulus.